If anyone walked past Moondoe Cafe on this particular day, they’d think there was a murder taking place. There were customers, terrified, backed up against a feature wall as an employee was being forcibly removed from another person. Lindsey, the owner of the cafe, was scrambling to force Zennaire, the employee in question, through the back door and to the break room. There was a small spattering of blood on the counter from where the initial punch had taken place. The customer was being tended to by another employee, they were too stunned to really shout back the obscenities still being thrown by Zennaire. Lindsey flinched and grimaced as a tin cup crashed into the wall, cracking the drywall. His teeth were bared and he was throwing anything he could get his hands on.
“What even happened, Zen?”
“Fucker called me a pussy! I’ll rip his throat out!”
“Why, what-”
“The stupid fucking milk steamer!”
Oh. That made more sense. It wasn’t a secret that Zennaire was a little freaked out by the milk steamer. Most people were, really. It was literally hot steam and loud. Zennaire hated the sound more than anything, the shrill scream was biting, and the one time he touched the nozzle, Lindsey had to stop him from destroying the machine.
“Zennaire, it’s fine! It scares me and I’ve been doing this for years!”
“Then go tell that to that fucking douchebag!”
“Oh, I think you handled that fine on your own.” She gave a short chuckle.
“Good! Learn to shut his fucking mouth! People respond to fear, let him fucking bleed!”
Lindsey made a face, pointing at Zennaire.
“We talked about that.”
Zennaire wasn’t listening at that point, he was already headlong into a monologue about how weak people are and how sometimes you just have to violently attack them after they call you a juvenile name because you got a little startled by a loud noise. Lindsey was calling his name, trying to break him from his strange trance before he went too deep.
“Zennaire, honey, let’s not do this right now. It’s closing time, we’re almost done and then you can go home.” She removed his hands from where they were digging into his own elbows. “You can go home, take a nice bath, go to bed, sleep it allllll off.”
Zennaire swatted her hands away and nearly threw himself on the break room sofa. He was scrubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands and Lindsey gave a heavy sigh.
“Stay up here, try and relax.”
He gave a short affirmative noise and Lindsey went back to the service floor, hoping this wouldn’t be too big a lawsuit.
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They’d gotten off easy, the police actually sided with the cafe. Stating that “if you haven’t got anything nice to say, then shut the hell up.” Zennaire had escaped some time before after closing time, since he wasn’t in the break room, or bathroom, or anywhere anyone could’ve thought of. So Lindsey took herself home, taking the long way around to the Diamond District. It had been a long day, difficult customers from a national business conference in town, plus the usual college kids in full force due to the September chill. It was a miracle that only one customer had been mauled by Zennaire. It was unfortunate, having to put him on registers, but they had an employee walk out after dealing with a rude customer who had insisted that they used whole milk in her Almond Flower Chai Tea. So, Zennaire had been forced from his comfortable corner with the blenders to the front lines while Lindsey made short work of the string of drinks.
She was a bit worried about him, even as she snagged a beer from the fridge. No one ever seemed to see Zennaire when he left the cafe, and no one knew where he stayed or how he got to and from work. Lindsey was roused from her concern as her cell phone rang from the living room. She stretched out on the oversized sofa as she answered.
“Hi, Bruce. It’s awfully late for a call isn’t it?” She teased.
“I just wanted to check on you.” He chuckled. “I heard you had the police at the cafe?”
“Oh, yeah, that. We had a rough day and some jerk mouthed off to my cashier.”
“Need me to take care of any legal fees?”
“No, Bruce. I’m a big girl, I can handle it. Also the police actually sided with us.”
She’d chatted with Bruce for a while, looking like a teenage girl, twirling her hair. He finally started to sound a bit tired, so she bid him good night with great timing as her mother entered the room.
“Lindsey, what are you doing up still?”
“Oh, just telling a friend about my crappy day.”
“A male friend?”
“No, just Christine from the pizza place.”
Her mother looked disappointed, taking the last swig of Lindsey’s beer as she left, her messy curls bouncing. Lindsey followed her down the hall, catching whiff of something.
“Hey, how’re you going to ask me about being awake when you and dad are smoking back here!”
“Shh! Dad’s trying to hide it!”
“Why?” She whispered, her eyebrow cocked.
“You know him, he doesn’t like to bring loose home.” Her mother shrugged.
Lindsey snuck in the room behind her mother, peeking around her. Her father was sitting on the end of their king sized bed, fiddling with a piece of “equipment”.
“Goodnight, dad.”
He nearly jumped out of his skin, shoving the piece down into his lap, his eyes wide.
“Oh, okay, goodnight, Lindsey! Sweet dreams!”
She rolled her eyes, giggling at him and closed the door behind her. Just further down the hall to her own room, she saw a small cloth bag hanging on the doorknob. She looked back at her parent’s room, but didn’t see her mom’s telltale smile of gift-giving. She took the bag and ducked into her room, smelling it before daring to open it. Opening it was a mistake, it held a little piece of paper with a guy’s handwriting. Lindsey recognized it easily, it was Bruce Wayne’s fancy penmanship, detailing an address and time, another gala event invitation. Bruce had probably stopped by while Lindsey was at work, hence why her mother had been so hopeful about the phone call. Lindsey would have to call Bruce tomorrow, probably give him the same excuse as usual. But then again, she didn’t really have an excuse this time, they were almost overstaffed at the cafe, so she could go a day without working. But at the same time, it would be nice to see Bruce again, and to attend one of those fancy parties. Bruce always had the best food catering.
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Lindsey’s mother had loaded her into the car, all too excited to be her plus one to the gala. She’d probably run off to hang out with the other mothers and housewives drinking wine all night until she was blackout drunk and ready to go home. In the meantime, Lindsey would be stuck with Bruce as the other businessmen bother him about budgets and collaborations and then offhandedly comment on her dress.
“I hate these parties, mom.”
“Oh, honey, they’re so fun! Who knows, maybe one of these times you’ll get back with Bruce!”
“Mom!”
The valet even made a face at the remark as they headed inside the venue. Lindsey had a bad feeling as they handed their invitation to the doorman, every gala at this hotel ended up being a long night. Bruce met her pretty quickly at the drink bar, already toting two glasses of champagne.
“Lindsey, so glad you could make it. You look fantastic!” He had a different glow to him.
“Uh, hi, Bruce, thank you.” She took the glass he handed her. “You seem like you’re in a good mood.”
“Yeah, I uh, wanted to talk to you about that, actually.”
Lindsey cocked her head, confused as Bruce offered his arm. He led her to the balcony, the chilled air a sharp contrast from the stuffy air inside. He seemed to drink his champagne a bit quickly, adjusting his tie as Lindsey leaned against the bannister.
“So? What’s going on?”
“I’ve met someone.”
Lindsey made a surprised face, waiting for further details.
“I’ve had this bodyguard for a while, he’s fantastic at his job. You know, I rarely keep bodyguards around. Well, things may have… evolved. Between us.”
“You’re… sleeping with your bodyguard?”
Bruce gave a nervous smile and nodded, scratching the back of his head.
“So, what do you need me for?”
“Well, I don’t know how to… properly address this situation.”
“To your family?”
“Exactly.” Bruce gently took her hand. “The kids were all so comfortable around you, and you always knew how to talk to them. You were the only person I could think of who would help me.”
“Oh, Bruce.”
Lindsey sighed, this was a bit awkward. The two had broken up months ago, and there were no hard feelings between them, but to ask her how to handle his new relationship was a little much, even for Lindsey. Her mother had raised her to never deny help to those in need, though.
“Okay. So what do you want me to do?”
“Just give me some advice. How did you always know how to talk to the kids? Especially Damien.”
“You just have to be understanding, Bruce. Think about how many people they’ve seen you with and eventually break up with. If you’re serious enough about this guy to talk to me about it, then you need to be upfront and honest with them.”
Bruce seemed a bit surprised by her answer. Perhaps he hadn’t thought it would be so simply put. Lindsey pushed off the bannister, giving Bruce a serious look.
41Please respect copyright.PENANAMhevwBUk4R
“Bruce, you’re a good dad to those kids, but you have to understand that they want what’s best for you as well. I knew how I would have liked to have been talked to, so I did the same to them.”
Bruce swallowed and nodded, gesturing back to the party and leading Lindsey back inside. She took another glass of champagne as a waiter passed by and seemed relaxed when some businessman walked up to Bruce, completely ignoring Lindsey. She used the distraction to escape, wandering around the party, looking for someone else to talk with. She waved at her mom, surrounded by other housewives and wine drinking women. Eventually, she came across Alfred, chatting with some older men. Lindsey walked up, politely waiting for Alfred to notice her. He did a double take, looking at her dress.
“Goodness, Miss Lindsey, you look simply lovely!”
“Thank you, Alfred. It’s nice to see you.”
“You seem a bit troubled, anything I can assist with?”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. Just a bit nervous around all these people.”41Please respect copyright.PENANAzJMPX0VLPS
“Did Bruce speak with you?”
“Um, yes, he did.”41Please respect copyright.PENANAqAd0kG5MmJ
“I warned him it would be uncomfortable. Well, if you’d like, you may stay with me for the remainder of the night.”
Lindsey smiled, feeling much better as Alfred offered her some snacks and introduced her to his friends and old colleagues.
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Lindsey had retired early for the night, avoiding her drunken mother’s ranting and questioning about her time with Bruce. Her father was wrangling his wife into the bedroom as Lindsey saw herself to her own room. She sighed heavily, dropping and tossing her dress haphazardly and pulling on an oversized t-shirt. The night had been one of the worst galas she’d been to. Between the rude glances and whispers of other party goers and Bruce’s unfortunate need for help, Lindsey had been glad to leave. Bruce had texted her, apologizing for his questions, but thanking her for her input, and inviting her to lunch. She hadn’t responded.
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